January 22nd (Saturday):
Inauguration Fiesta: Saturday morning everyone, EVERYONE (paid workers, teachers, all Canadians with Global Shore, and many more) cleaned up and finished things in the building for the grand opening. We cleaned windows and mopped, while toilets were being installed and final bricks laid! In true Guatemalan fashion the ceremony, scheduled for 4:00pm Saturday, started at 5:30pm! Around 400 people attended and got to see what God has done in 1 year. 1 year ago, the location of the new school was an empty lot. In 1 year, with man power only (and 1 backhoe) a huge school was built, a well dug, and a road paved. I've seen the progress of building in Canada, with machinery and money to spare, and what has been done here is only possible by God's great hand.
The celebration continued until dark and ended with fireworks (por su puesto/of course) and cake (yes enough cake for 400 people).
We walked down the big hill to our home in the dark with several other new Guatemalan friends.
Seth's adjustment:
Seth has become so much more outgoing in just 2 weeks! He is always making eyes with strangers so that they will pay attention to him or talk to him. He says he has amigos at school and loves Clara and Marco (our host family). Although he is unable to speak Spanish, he still communicates with the Guatemalan kids through gestures and laughter. His behaviour is also a lot better – he still has a lot of moments but overall he is doing really well. Oh, and he is eating more than ever! He goes to bed easily and very early – I guess the heat and activity level here is tiring him out!
January 24th 2011 (monday)
First day of school Colegio Cristiano Avivando el Fuego. The group of 30 Canadians were present for the first day of classes. We all welcomed 180 kids to the new school building. Anytime a child (grade JK to 5)saw a teacher or any adult, they would come to great us with a hug. The day starts with devotion time every morning. So this morning, the routine was explained to the kids. And in true Guatemalan style, una fiesta (a party) broke out during worship (even at 7:30am!).
Seth made it through about 30 minutes without crying, then he saw Heath and I and broke down. The teachers kept hugging him and carried him around for awhile trying to comfort them. At one point, Paula – the SK teacher who is also the school translator (so she speaks English), was holding Seth and he said “You don't understand me. I need my mommy. She's right over there.” Paula told him in English that she does understand but that he needed to be strong and stay with his class. Eventually he calmed down and was fine all day!
We'll include some photos of the school and kids. They are all lovely. 1/3 of the kids are sponsored to attend the school, which is fabulous! The vision of the school is to build up disciples in Christ and provide high quality education. The education is fabulous and the teachers are so dedicated. If anyone is interested is sponsoring a child it is about $450 a year (roughly) for everything (materials, books for the child, daily food, toothbrushes, and all the costs of daily education). The school will not turn away any children (up to the classroom capacity) so Global Shore pays for kids who are not sponsored. This is fabulous but it also takes $ away from expanding the school programs (for example adding more books to the school).
http://www.globalshore.org/ has a catalogue page and an area that you can sponsor a child. You will get art work from your child 3 times a year and a picture. Your picture will go on the school wall in the auditorium with a photo of your sponsor child. If you let us know who your sponsor child is, we can bring more photos or information back for you.
Guatemalan Life:
Most things are different in Guate, with a few things that stand out. Bathing the kids is a bit of an adventure. There are no tubs and the shower heads are a bit 'different' so what Heath does is holds up a blow up tub to the shower head to fill the tub. The water doesn't really spray straight down so it would take forever to fill otherwise. Once it is full enough (or too unsteady to hold) he lets it down and we both bathe Eden. At this point Eden usually pees in the tub so Heath has to go through the same process for Seth's water. At the end of the entire process Heath no longer needs a shower as he is soaked to the gills.
Another very different component of Guatemalan life is transportation. Where do we start? Firstly lets talk about chicken buses. These actually have nothing to do with chickens. They are basically 'hand me down' buses from North America that no longer pass code. This should give you an idea of where I am going with this. They are then decorated in a variety of colors and decals. Most have something that ranges from women's names to religious sayings in Spanish. Lastly, there are often some looney tunes characters scattered about. Seriously. Anyway, these buses travel on set routes but there are no real schedules. They come every so often and you better be there when they go by, or else you have to wait for the next one. They have the names of the towns they travel to/from painted on the top. Once on the bus, they travel at breakneck speeds and are constantly either accelerating or braking...no steady pace. They do not collect the fare when you get on the bus...they collect it mid way, even if the bus is overpacked and they basically have to climb over people to get all the way to the back. The helper or 'ayudante' collects the money and makes change along the way. If he doesn't have enough change he will keep going along to the back of the bus and give you the correct change on the way back up. The rates are dirt cheap. To take the 20 minute trip from Tizate to Antigua it is 2.5 quetzal which is approximately 32 cents. It's quite a bargain, and a bit of a rush at the same time.
One last note about the chicken buses...it can get a little cramped during 'rush hour'. Do you know that 'don't stand in front of this yellow line' line in buses? Well, a bus I was on once was so packed that I counted no less than 11 people crammed in front of that yellow line...no word of a lie! :)
The second and final transportation note I will make is about pickup trucks. As it should be in Canada, riding in the back of a pickup truck is completely legal in Guate. Today we had to move a bunch of stuff from the old school to the new one, and we had 7 'gringos' (white people) in the back PLUS a pickup truck completely full of stuff (including a commercial photocopier in the passenger seat...it didn't interfere with the driver as long as he didn't need 4th or 5th gear with the stick. :) Everything you do here has a hint of danger involved and it is awesome...keeps life interesting! It's nice to see a culture that is more concerned with getting things done than liability. :)
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| Stage in Auditorium of new school |
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| Clara & Marco - our host family |
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| During the Grand Opening Celebration |
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| Grand Opening of Colegio Cristiano Avivando el Fuego, Global Shore project |
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| Seth passed out on the Chicken Bus - he is sleeping so well here! |
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| Eden getting some head control, finally! |
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| Seth's first day of Kinder (aka JK) |
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| Walking up the hill/road on Seth's 1st day of school - this is a flat part |
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| Morning worship at school |
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| Gym class - Seth with the long t-shirt |
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| Prepa classroom - SK |
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| Quinto - Grade 5 classroom |
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| Kinder (JK) classroom - Seth's class |
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| Heath had to take this - the bus needed work - check out how they raised it up! |
January 25th -26th
Our regular schedule has set in...we are up by no later than 6am everyday and out the door by 7am. We make the hike up the hill with Heath pushing Seth in the stroller (Seth only lasts about 5 minutes walking and slows things up) and I carry Eden in the sling. By 7:25am we are at school ready for a nap and soaked with sweat! 110 kids arrive on the school bus (yes a normal school bus that we typically put around 50 kids in) the other 70 kids hike up that hill to school just like us! We have worship and devotional time from 7:30 to 8am, and then all the kids eat soup (amazingly Seth eats it all, even though he has a full breakfast at 6am at our house). Classes then run from 8:30 to 1:30pm. I float between classes helping or observing while Heath mops, sweeps, and cleans up toilet leaks! Heath then takes Seth down the hill at 1:30pm for lunch at home. I stay and help the teachers plan and develop the school reading program. Surprisingly, I've even been helping the English teachers with their planning. By the time I walk home with Eden at 3:00ish, we are all exhausted but happy. Gracias a Dios :)
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